While many owners abandon the dogs because they're ill-prepared to take care of them, other dogs end up roaming the streets after their fighting days are over. The problem plagues not only the city but also rural areas.

Like hundreds of other abandoned pit bulls, Duke's fate is sealed.

Michigan Humane Society cruelty investigators Mark Ramos and Dave McLeod captured the dog a couple of days later, after a third failed attempt to find its owner.

When seven days expire, without an owner to claim it, the dog is put down.

"It's very sad, but from a safety perspective you can't put an animal that could be violent in a home with a family or children," said Stephanie Baron, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Humane Society. "The reasoning is that too many are bred to fight and used to fight."

The recent case of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, who pleaded guilty last month to a felony charge of conspiracy stemming from dogfighting, has put a spotlight on American pit bull terriers. Metro Detroit also has recorded several recent high-profile arrests of people engaged in dogfighting, including nine men arrested last month in Inkster and 10 arrested two weeks ago in Detroit.

A few such dogs manage to get rescued by pit bull lovers, who say the temperament of a dog depends on how it is raised. Pit bull owners and animal activists successfully lobbied against a pit bull ban in Detroit last year.

Americans have come a long way from associating pit bulls with Petey, the charismatic dog with the black ring around his eye in the "Our Gang" and "Little Rascals" shows decades ago.

Today, the dogs are often associated — fairly or not — with dogfighting.

"In my opinion, pit bulls are probably the most popular dog in the history of the United States," said Adam Goldfarb, issues specialist for the Humane Society of the United States in Gaithersburg, Md. "When I say popular, I don't mean well-liked. I mean numerous."

Pit bull lovers say the dogs are the most loyal, intelligent and friendly dogs when raised correctly. They say rogue owners ruin the dogs' reputation by abusing them and raising them to fight.

"They're just like any other dog," said breeder Rob Watson, 29, of Warren, Mich. "It all comes down to the owner."

With popularity of pit bulls comes over-breeding. With over-breeding comes a strain on shelters across the country.

John Goodwin, manager of fighting issues for the Humane Society, estimates that one-third of dogs brought into animal shelters nationwide are pit bulls. Goodwin, who helped investigate the Vick case, estimates there are millions of pit bulls in the United States.

C.J. Bentley, a behavioral specialist for the Michigan Humane Society in Rochester Hills, said the overpopulation issue is at a crisis point.

"There's nowhere for these poor dogs to go, and it's not the dogs' fault," she said.

Lexie is a black pit bull that came from a feces-laden Detroit garage with an open bag of food and bucket of water.

Mazie was tied up at a Detroit steel fabricator, where the crew fed the fawn-colored pit bull food from McDonald's.

Belinda came from a closing Lincoln Park animal shelter.

They all wound up at Joanie Wazney's ranch-style home in Van Buren Township, Mich., the epicenter of the Buster Foundation, a pit bull rescue outfit that started in Grosse Pointe, Mich.

In five years, Wazney, a 50-year-old receptionist at Cherry Hill Animal Clinic in Westland, Mich., has adopted out 250 pit bulls throughout the state. She typically keeps about 20 pit bulls and pit bull mixes at her home.

"The majority of these dogs are displaced castoffs," Wazney said. "They're not all being fought."

The pit bulls come by word of mouth: Some are strays picked up by local animal control. Others are abandoned dogs that Wazney picks up.

Wazney is a realist: Some of the pit bulls aren't going to be pet material. She's not afraid to have them put down but not before she tries to rehabilitate them by trying to socialize them with her dogs and testing their temperaments. She keeps a plastic pool in her backyard for the dogs to play in.

"They come from all walks," she said. "And you do what you have to do and what you can do. I'd rather see them humanely euthanized than to suffer or be banished to a chain in a backyard with no human contact."

And she takes issue with the Humane Society's policy against adopting out pit bulls. "I still think there have been plenty of pits and pit mixes that they could have worked with to make some wonderful dogs ."

"When we talk about dogfighting, it can affect neighborhoods, and that's what people need to look at," said Deborah MacDonald, interim director for the Michigan Humane Society's Detroit shelter. "Many times the dogs aren't secure, and dogs that aren't well-socialized pose a threat. Plus, it brings a criminal element into your neighborhood."

Pit bulls usually make headlines nationally when they attack, but they are not the only breeds associated with violent attacks.

Sept. 12, a 4-month old girl was mauled to death by a rottweiler at a home in Warren, Mich. A day later, 91-year-old Edward Gierlach and 56-year-old Cheryl Harper were killed by a pack of American bulldogs in Livingston County, Mich.

There is no official database for tracking pit bull attacks, so national statistics are difficult to quantify.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasn't tracked fatal pit bull attacks since a study covering 1979- 98. The study showed that during 1997 and 1998 at least 27 people died in dog attacks, that pit bulls accounted for six of those attacks and rottweilers for 12.

Gail Hayes, a CDC spokeswoman, said dogs bite 4.7 million Americans annually, and an average of 12 people die annually from dog attacks.

"There is currently no accurate way to identify the number of dogs of a particular breed," Hayes said, "and consequently no measure to determine which breeds are more likely to bite or kill."

But nothing will ever convince Brenda Ashford that pit bulls aren't bred to attack. Her 6-year-old granddaughter, Cassidy Jeter, was mauled to death by the family's two pit bulls in Hamtramck, Mich., two years ago.

"There's just something about that breed," Ashford said. "There's a killer instinct that's in those dogs."

"I could barely understand her. Then she said the dog killed Cassidy," Ashford said. "I just went to the floor screaming."

Cassidy and her brother, Rodrell Jeter, 4, were in the backyard when two dogs attacked. The family was moving to a house across the alley, and the children went to play on the swing set of their old house.

The dogs usually were housed in the basement, State Police said, but somehow got out and into the fenced-in yard.

Rodrell climbed the fence and escaped without injury. Cassidy didn't make it. By the time Ashford arrived, police had shot both dogs. Cassidy's body had been taken away.

"That was my baby," Ashford said. "I don't have any pictures posted of her, because, even today, if I look at her, it's like she's calling my name and I wasn't there."

Rob Watson rolls around the living room floor of his Warren home, playing with his 75-pound pit bull, Diesel.

His wife, Onalee, is seven months pregnant and only a few feet away.

She feels completely safe.

For every dogfighter who abuses pit bulls, there's a breeder who shows genuine love and respect for the dogs. The breed has a cult-like following, tightknit community trying to protect the dogs from an anti-pit bull movement.

But, even for pit bull lovers, breeding can be controversial. Animal experts say the United States is in the midst of an overpopulation of pit bulls and that those who really care about the dogs should halt all breeding.

Watson, 29, is more than happy to stud Diesel out — if you have $1,500 and your dog meets his criteria.

"I don't just put him with any other dog out there. I'm looking for his bloodline. I look for temperament, intelligence. T here's a lot of factors I put into it."

His Web site www.detroitpitbull.com boasts about the intelligence and lovability of the dogs. He traveled to Delaware in April to breed Diesel with a pit bull.

Everett Stephenson, 53, advertises a breeding service on his Web site www.jurrassicpitbull.com.

The west-side Detroiter keeps seven pit bulls in tidy kennels in his backyard. He has no problem allowing them to run free among visitors.

"It all starts with obedience," he said, standing with the dogs surrounding him. "You don't need a pit bull book to tell you how to train them. The main thing is to be responsible."

Stephenson also works as a judge across the state for weight-pulling contests, legal competitions in which pit bulls strap on carts with various amounts of weight for entertainment.

His Web site boasts about offspring from his dogs.

"They produce large pups," the site says. "Males up to 104 pounds and females at 83 pounds."

The price: $1,000.

"I'm all about preserving the breed," Stephenson said.

C.J. Bentley, a behavior specialist for the Michigan Humane Society in Rochester Hills, said inbreeding among pit bulls, common among backstreet breeders, can make them unstable.

"Inbreeding is going to cause a lot of problems, physically, temperamentally and behaviorally," she said. "It's not smart for a lot of reasons."

That's the reason Watson is so picky.

He goes as far as to interview potential customers who want a dog and makes them sign a purchase agreement.

"The first thing I'm going to do is look for reputable people who have steady jobs," he said. "If they live within 50 miles of me, I want to come and do an inspection, make sure it's secure and has adequate accommodations."

Watson isn't too keen on potential first-time owners.

"I'm probably going to turn a first-timer away," he said. "These are not dumb dogs, and the problems with the breed is that nine out of 10 dogs are smarter than the owner."

While breeders interviewed by the Free Press said they hate dogfighting, they agreed that it's healthy to keep pit bulls active and competitive.

Many turn to dog shows and weight-pull contests as a way to showcase their breed.

Ron Carter, 48, of Lincoln Park designed a 34-foot metal track that he carts around to weight pulls in the state.

During the contests, the dogs pull a 280-pound sled filled with various weights. Carter said he's seen a 77-pound pit bull pull 11,000 pounds.

"There's a lot of other things you can do with a pit bull besides fight it," Carter said.

While many focus on a pit bull's ability to kill, Michelle Circoloff says she couldn't live without her dog — literally.

Circoloff, 34, of Jackson suffers seizures. She says her pit bull, Tank, senses the onslaught 25 minutes before she has an episode.

"If I'm sitting on my couch, he'll get on my lap and keep looking at me, directly in the face," she said. "And then I know to get on the floor."

Lawrence Herzog, a veterinarian who runs Grosse Pointe Animal Clinic, said there is research confirming similar cases.

"Some dogs can sense seizures coming on. I t's been pretty well researched that it is a legitimate claim," Herzog said. "It's definitely possible."

Circoloff says the seizures hit two to three times a month.

"He'll sit with me during the entire seizure," she said.

She has a tattoo of Tank on her left leg as a tribute to her hero. She also owns two female pit bulls.

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